South SIde Slim, River Oaks Inbreeding, School Lunches, and Vintage Rule 5

South Side Slim made an appearance in Houston evening last for some sort of fundraiser or something. Of course he flew in right at rush hour and the traffic disaster that ensued took a full three hours to clean up.  Ridiculous! Of course after the main event there was to be a private gathering at a "River Oaks home."  Ever been to the River Oaks section of Houston? Beverly Hills has nothing on these folk. Funny thing; these River Oaks types are the very same folk that Obama and Co. want to  pay even more in taxes.  As far as I know, he never ventured over into Dumbass Sheila Jackson Lee's district where he might actually be welcome. No money there I guess.  I know he did not head just south into Ron Paul country. There is some money in that neck of the woods  but most of it is tied up in big diesel pick up trucks (whether needed or not).

I have had some glimpses into the "River Oaks lifestyle" a few times in my varied career as a barman and cab driver. I have met some nice down to earth folk but I have met quite a number who are just a bit hard to deal with. Often the younger folk I have run across have an arrogant, entitled, attitude when dealing with the unwashed. The older ones keep that in check; at least outwardly.  What some of them think is classy is a bit odd also.  Now I am no interior dickorator but I do know tacky decor when I see it. Just because someone is very wealthy does not always seem to translate into a refinement in taste. Some of the homes I worked in as a barman were tacky to the extreme. When one has a full sized stuffed lion in the living room surrounded by African tribal masks, well, that is just trashy. I don't care what it costs.

One thing a lot of these River Oaks folk like to do is "fund raise" with a whole lot of heavy drinking in the process. A lot of them do not have the sense to not drink and drive but I have carted a few around who have a DWI or two under their belt.  Even they aren't that dumb to continue to drive around hammered after that legal nightmare.

I vividly recall one fine evening picking up a couple of these pampered young River Oaks fellows who, after a night of heavy drinking, were interested in interesting things. They asked me for my advice on the matter and as a man who is customer service oriented, I recommended a couple spots for them. After some discussion, they decided on what would be of interest to them and away we went. They asked me to "leave the meter running" and wait a bit until they return. It is usually a professional error in judgement to do so. The reason is simple. After recommending a certain type of "gentlemens' establishment" to customers they are grateful at first. After their affairs are concluded, buyers remorse may set in, as they may be hundreds of dollars lighter in the wallet. They may feel stupid and be looking to blame anyone but themselves. The cabbie who recommended the spot is an easy target. It is best really to just drop a customer, get paid, wait a few minutes and go get your "finders fee" from the fine establishment and then boogie on to the next call. Let the sporting man find another cab to bring him to the hotel or home (or wherever). At any rate on this particular occasion I violated the "rule" and waited on these guys. In no more than ten minutes both came literally running out of the business and begged to get into my locked cab. Behind them was a very large Black man with a 9mm plainly visible  tucked into his pants. What these boys did to rile up the bouncer was beyond me but they were not getting into my cab. Luckily for them the issue was decided after some very harsh words from the bouncer (and another 50 bucks from the bouncer given to yours truly). I let the lads in and took them back home. They were rather subdued and I did not ever find out just what these boys did in the hoorhouse to nearly get shot over. Must have been something really really stupid. The whole episode made me wonder if the rumors of inbreeding among the River Oaks community are true.
This is reminding me of another little episode that was kinda funny, A few years back I mistakenly picked up some crazy old dude at a low rent hotel who wanted to go here and there. For whatever reason I decided to do so. It became apparent pretty soon that he was crazy as hell and had very little money. Apparently he was a direct descendant of gunslinger John Wesley Hardin also. I told him that his cab ride was nearing an end and he needed to get out pdq. He chose a very very fancy and upscale eating establishment that caters to the River Oaks crowd. I dropped him right at the door and was beginning to see the humor in the situation and I found my irritation (at him and myself)  slipping away.  He gave me a dollar and a lighter, and then told me to come back in one hour and he would pay the rest of the fare "in gold." I got out, opened the door for him just like he was a rear admiral or something and thanked him for allowing me to be of service. I was trying to keep a straight face as I could see restaurant staff and customers beginning to gawk. I watched him enter the place and then drove on as our business was concluded. I shortly got a call from the office about dropping this "bum" off at this fancy joint. I explained that this is where he wanted to go and I was just doing my job and offering excellent customer service in the process. No one could argue with me there. If a bum wants to get dropped off at a fancy place or if a Michael Berry wants to be dropped off at a rough trade Gay club; what concern is it of mine? A cabbie's job is to deliver customers to their desired destination is it not? At any rate that whole affair still amuses me a bit and I still have the lighter that the guy gave me. A little memento of the experience........I guess that is about enough talk about these River Oaks pests.

It is being reported now that whole milk is to be taken off the "menu" in public schools. Ever eat the tripe that is being forced on kids? Ammonium hydroxide (pink slime) is still allowable to be added to meat products apparently but whole milk is poison or something? Another example of government interference into even the most mundane facets of our lives. I remember the school lunches at the "reform school" where I (finally) matriculated. Good down home southern cooking which on any given day might include biscuits or rolls from scratch, real fried chicken with mashed taters and gravy and yes even whole milk. Afterwords we could go outside and have a smoke in the "smoking area." They did frown on the use of marijuana though. Best not get caught with that substance  or you were in for a  bad day. A very bad day indeed.

I know a person who has an autoimmune disorder that will likely eventually kill her. More often than not she is in great pain and has to rely on strong prescription painkillers to remain somewhat comfortable. These drugs tend to make her completely stoned. Often to the point of incoherence. I might mention also that these "medications" are prohibitively expensive. Often she goes without because of the cost. I would recommend that she try a little pot frankly. Medicinal MJ is not legal in the Republic but I certainly would not let that stop me. If I or one of my family members was in need then I would "score" it. Hell even that utterly sane and pious Christian man Pat Robertson sees the ridiculousness of the the "war" on Marijuana. Yes, Yes I know that foreign narco terrorists control some of the MJ trade, but that could easily be rectified by some sort of legalization policy. That and some Hellfire missiles fired at Mexican kingpins.

Now enjoy some vintage rule 5....A stoned hippy no less.

Quanell X, Michael Berry and Cold Medicine

Have you ever noticed what a pain in the ass it is to buy some brands of cold medicine now? I felt the need to make a purchase this afternoon and ended up standing in line, showing my identification and feeling like some kind of criminal because I happen to have a cold (still) and felt the need to buy some cold medicine. Of course this is because a very very tiny minority use some of the ingredients in the manufacture of meth. The rest of us have to pay to guard against the purchase for illegal purposes by a small group of people. This comes from the same government that does not make it a requirement to show identification when one goes to the polls. That is racist you see. Yet there you have it. Our government at all levels is out of control.
On the way back from this annoying little adventure I turned on the Michael Berry show. He is usually pretty entertaining especially when he gets out of hand. Well this evening he was talking for the most part about some gathering in Georgia that almost got out of control. Apparently there was a line to apply for government subsidized housing and some tempers flared. Now Berry pointed out that he did not see any white people at this gathering and of course he went into his "Black" accent, which he does probably too often. I generally find Berry amusing and agree with him about ninety percent of the time, but I must admit that when he goes into his "ethnic" dialect it does kind of disturb me a bit. It comes across as racist and no mistake. Now Berry has an adopted child of African descent and he appears to believe that this gives him somewhat a pass on such matters. Perhaps it does to some extent but not totally. Besides, and this is really the crux of the matter, his imitation of the ethnic dialect is not really very good. When I got out of the service, I worked as a 911 operator police/fire dispatcher in Louisiana and became quite adept at the dialect. I considered myself bilingual as it were. We in the "business" always conversed in this dialect to the point that it became pretty much the standard mode of conversation. I eventually accepted a position in Houston in the same field for a good bit more money and became more fluent. I have been out of that business for many years but still have to be on guard against lapsing into my adopted tongue. Not long ago my child asked me to help her find an "urange" crayon. I really should be careful. Sometimes I find myself referring to an "ambulance" as an "amalance" and once in a while, while watching a television program where there is some kind of automatic weapon brandished, I want to yell "He's got an Uzi." You see any semi automatic weapon used to be called an "Uzi." One of the most interesting calls I ever had was a woman screaming "He's got an Uzi, he's got an Uzi" over and over into the phone and I did indeed hear some semi automatic (but not automatic) gunfire in the background. I'm sure I sent both the POlice and an amalance to the scene. Those were the days. I could probably write a book on some of the things that I have heard over the years, both funny and unfortunately, quite tragic. But that is neither here nor there I guess. Getting back to Berry, today he referred to himself as "Michael X." I suppose that was in reference to there being no white people at the affair in Georgia. I guess Berry was going to advocate for them. That is of course is a play on the local loudmouth "black activist" Quanell X who seems to get himself in front of the television cameras every time there is some real or imagined "racial" issue. Now of course Mr. X's birth name was not Quanell X and I will not go into that here. The details on Mr. X are easily found with a very little effort but let it suffice to say that this man really has no business representing the "black" or any other community. He is a member of the "New Black Panther Party" and that really says it all. Apparently he was a member of the odius "Nation of Islam" at one time also. Yes a real pillar of the community, a community I might add that he does not chose to live among. Yes he is one of those suburban activists with the nice house and honky neighbors and everything. If he wants to be taken seriously he should at least walk the walk. You know, like an African American version of Horst Wessel. After all Horst belonged to a hate group also if you recall. Apparently he walked the walk as they say and lived in the poorer neighborhoods while advocating for the NAZI cause. Am I comparing Horst Wessel to Quanell X?  Not sure, just typing here and seeing where this leads. Probably not, but there are disturbing similaritites between some militant black advocacy groups and Nazi's, both real and the stupid "neo" kind. Both were/ are racists, both are virulently anti Semitic, and both tend to run around in ridiculous para military garb. Wow. See where all that took us.
Probably if the black community is in need of a spokesmen to represent them, Quannel X and those of his stripe are not the best choice. It is kind of like having David Duke be the semi official spokesman for the white community.

B.O. Might Be More Damaging Than BP

There appears to be no consensus on the amount of oil that is washing up on beaches and marshes on the Gulf Coast. Some believe that much of the oil has dispersed and others believe that it has not. Of course with the good possibility that a great deal has indeed dispersed, the radical environmental groups now are grasping at straws by insinuating that the dispersant is indeed worse than the actual oil spill itself. If the oil is indeed dispersing, then that blows a good deal of the radical left's arguments out of the water. You see, they desperately need and want this oil spill to be an environmental disaster of unprecedented magnitude. It is very akin to the very strange phenomena of the ultra left needing, and some fruitloops indeed hoping, for some sort of attack on our sacred soil by some right wing Neo Nazi types. They want these things and need these things to validate themselves as relevant. Sad, sad people are many of them. One only needs to read the virulent and self loathing writings of some on the ultra left to gain some insight into their thought process. There is no way really to understand such hatred of self and country. I may call out some of these folks and their writings at some point in the near future, but that is not really the issue I want to discuss here. I will point out  however that some folks believe themselves to be Liberal but in reality they are not. I know some Liberals and read some Liberal writings, written by very decent folk, and there is a huge difference between Liberalism and those that call themselves "Progressive" I do not believe even the term "Progressive" describes some of the thought that is out there. Some of it is astonishing. My apologies from rambling- back to the issue at hand.
As noted, the worst (hopefully) is behind us with the BP oil spill. The oil spill does not appear to have caused the environmental disaster that many thought that it would. At least not at this point. There are those in disagreement however, Billy Nungesser, the President of Plaquemines Parish, says there is still oil out there that is washing up on coastal Louisiana's shores and indeed is visible from the air in the marshes, bays and inlets. There certainly is no reason to doubt this man who has been selfless and gutsy in his demand for more action by the U.S. Government and of course BP. He said today on the Michael Berry show that BP is actually standing down on some of their efforts to clean up the marshes etc.. If correct, then this is criminal. Not surprising however - it is well known among those who work in the oil and petrochemical industry that BP is a rogue player and safety is not their main concern. Well known! Now with that being said, just how bad is this oil spill in reality? It goes without saying that there has been some adverse environmental impact and there likely will continue to be problems, but has most of the oil that gushed out of the pipe dispersed and if so how? These are questions that do not seem to be answerable at this point. The waters are apparently clear enough to open up more areas to the commercial fishing industry. Would you eat the sea life that is taken from these waters? That is a question that each seafood lover must answer on their own I suppose. Hopefully the catch is indeed safe to eat and I suspect it to be so, but I certainly am not sure. Not sure I trust the opinions of various "scientists" on this issue. Those in the scientific community are so often wrong. It is a conundrum by cracky.
Today Michael Berry,  Houston (and soon national I'll wager) talk show host was broadcasting from the very popular  Drago's restaurant in the NOLA area. He interviewed Nungesser and a gentleman by the name of Smith of the commercial fishing interests. Nungesser reiterated that the waters are still fouled along the coast and Smith was cautiously optimistic that the commercial fishing industry would soon begin to get back on track. Very interesting discourse to say the least. In addition the main gist of the show was the damage that the so called moratorium is having and will have on the economy of the entire region. That is a fact and no mistake. The oil and petrochemical industries are one of the major players in the region and damaging it with an arbitrary moratorium will not only damage, but destroy many communities in the region and beyond. The fact that the ban on drilling has been overruled by the court system does not seem to have any effect on the federal government's push to enforce this moratorium. I personally know people who have been affected and sure more people I am acquainted with will soon be out of work. Michael Berry said that at some point the offshore drilling industry should just do as they please anyway as the Obama administration is proving to be irrelevant. Berry can tend to get out of hand at times, but I'm not sure I totally disagree. An action such as disregarding the federal government is a slippery slope indeed and careful thought should be taken on the matter. It is similar to the call for those in Arizona to ignore the legal rulings and proceed as planned. Another action that I am not sure I totally disagree with.
All in all it was one of the most interesting talk shows I have ever had the pleasure to listen to. This country is in a hell of a mess and the U.S. Government is a huge part of the problem. Incidentally one of the most sane things that I have heard in a while came from Billy Nungesser. He said that each rig should have a "Rig Marshall" aboard that had the final say in shutting down a rig no matter what the drilling company or the oil company wanted. The "Marshall's say would not be disputable in the least and the drilling and oil companies would have no recourse. That makes a great deal of sense to me and would alleviate the tendency to place profit and drilling schedule above safety and environmental impact. A good idea indeed.